In Tuesday’s article on global warming, Dennis Byrne misses the point. If something is known to be harmful, or very likely so, isn’t it prudent to mitigate risk with common-sense and cost-effective measures? The potential for CO2 and other gasses to trap heat has been proven in the laboratory, and in spite of the complexity of global systems, it is a plausible contributor to harm in the environment.
The situation parallels public thought on smoking decades ago. Eventually, we as a society will take the conservative approach and reduce carbon emissions. There is much we can do as a society and as individuals which comes at little or no cost. While a few sectors of the energy industry stand to lose some profits, scares of economic impacts and job lost are overblown.
— Scott Schaedel, Park Ridge
